The Dream Journal

Can dreams reveal how we are changing—and even anticipate what comes next? Host Katherine Bell talks with alignment coach, author, and certified trauma specialist Kelly Lydick about precognitive dreams, déjà vu, dream incubation, recurring symbols, and the relationship between dreaming life and waking life. Kelly explains how dream patterns can reflect personal evolution, why houses, water, and co...

Ancient Tibetan lucid-dreaming practices meet immersive VR research Can virtual reality make the insights of Tibetan dream yoga more accessible—and potentially help people living with severe anxiety? Host Katherine Bell speaks with Dr. Michael R. Sheehy of the University of Virginia’s Contemplative Sciences Center about lucid dreaming, ancient Buddhist dream-yoga practices, and a modern immersive...

Can dreams under anesthesia support emotional healing and lasting psychological change? Stanford clinical research scientist Dr. Pilleriin Sikka joins host Katherine Bell on The Dream Journal to explore anesthesia dreams, nighttime dreaming, psychedelic experiences, consciousness, and mental health. They discuss why anesthesia dreams are often calm and positive, how propofol and ketamine can produ...

What can dreams reveal about our ancestors—and how can they fuel creativity, self-understanding, and better decisions? On this episode of The Dream Journal , host Katherine Bell talks with genealogist and historical fiction author Anna Dahlheimer Bartkowski about the powerful intersection of dreams, family history, and storytelling. Anna shares how a childhood fascination with dreams grew alongsid...

Can recurring nightmares be changed—and can better sleep support recovery from trauma? On this episode of The Dream Journal , host Katherine Bell talks with clinical psychologist and behavioral sleep medicine specialist Dr. Courtney Worley about evidence-based treatments for nightmares, insomnia, and trauma-related sleep problems. Dr. Worley explains how imagery rehearsal therapy (IRT) can help pe...

What can dreams reveal about psychological growth in midlife? Jungian psychoanalyst Tony Caldwell joins host Katherine Bell on The Dream Journal to explore individuation, compensatory dreams, shadow work, initial dreams, and the tension of opposites. Tony explains how dreams can counterbalance a one-sided conscious attitude, why individuation is an ongoing process rather than a finished state, and...

What are dream herbs—and how can plant allies support dream recall, dream incubation, creativity, healing, and spiritual connection? On this episode of The Dream Journal , host Katherine Bell speaks with author, herbalist, certified hypnotherapist, dream guide, and intuitive coach Audrey Gilbert about her book Herbal Dream Magic: Spells and Rituals with Plant Allies . Audrey explains the differenc...

How do Jungian psychology, dream archetypes, neurobiology, and memory reconsolidation come together in dream work? In this episode of The Dream Journal, host Katherine Bell speaks with clinical psychologist Dr. John Valenzuela about dreams as meaningful experiences that help us update emotional memories, deepen self-understanding, and improve relationships. With poignant examples from his own drea...

In this episode of The Dream Journal, host Katherine Bell speaks with psychotherapists and artists Willow Pearson Trimbach and Eva Tuschman Leonard about their book The Emotional Truth of Dreams: Learning from Dream Dialogues in Psychotherapeutic and Spiritual Practice. Together they explore how dreams reveal emotional truth, invite deep listening, and open pathways into creativity, spirituality,...

In this episode of The Dream Journal , host Katherine Bell speaks with physician-turned-psychotherapist, teacher, and writer Dr. Keren Vishny about dreams as a place we can return to again and again. Together they explore how dreamwork can deepen presence, support emotional awareness, and help us stay with difficult experiences rather than avoiding them or rushing to interpret them. Dr. Vishny sha...

Early adulthood can feel like a search for meaning in a world that keeps asking for stability. In this episode of The Dream Journal, host Katherine Bell speaks with Satya Doyle Byock about quarter life as a developmental stage, the tension between stability and meaning, and how dreams can reveal what the conscious mind has not yet understood. Satya discusses her book Quarterlife: The Search for Se...

Dream teacher and prolific author Robert Moss joins The Dream Journal for a wide-ranging conversation about active dreaming, shamanic imagination, synchronicity, dream reentry, hypnagogia, precognition, nightmares, and the living nature of dreams. Robert Moss is the founder of the School of Active Dreaming and the author of books including Conscious Dreaming, Dreamways of the Iroquois, Sidewalk Or...

What do Shakespeare, dream journals, live theater, and spiritual imagination have in common? In this episode of The Dream Journal, host Katherine Bell speaks with dream researcher and author Dr. Kelly Bulkeley about the spirit of dreaming in Shakespeare, the power of dreams as play, and how long-term dream journaling reveals patterns of meaning over time. Kelly Bulkeley, PhD, is a psychologist of...

Are we dreaming reality together? In this episode of The Dream Journal, host Katherine Bell speaks with author and spiritual teacher Paul Levy about the dreamlike nature of reality, the collective mind virus known as Wetiko, and how nighttime dreams can help us wake up within the waking dream. Paul shares how a powerful spiritual awakening led him into a lifelong exploration of dreams, Tibetan Bud...

We are the dreams of our ancestors; we are their hopes for the future. But sometimes their trauma is transmitted to us through nightmares. In today’s special replay, Dream Journal regular Linda Schiller, speaks about how to heal that intergenerational pain and focus on the gifts of ancestral connection. Linda talks about her own ancestors and how her grandfather, who she called Grandpa Joey,...

Author, chef, and literary arts advocate Priya Hutner joins The Dream Journal to share how a series of vivid nightmares helped her recognize that it was time to leave the spiritual cult she grew up in. In this powerful conversation with host Katherine Bell, Priya explores dreams, belonging, belief, spiritual entrapment, family allegiance, and the long path toward personal liberation. Priya is the...

How do ancient cultures understand dreaming? In this episode of The Dream Journal, host Katherine Bell speaks with dreamwork professional Alejandra Perez Regura about Indigenous dreaming practices in Mayan, Huichol, Toltec, Mapuche, Totonac, and other traditions. Together they explore dreams as guidance, healing, community wisdom, and a bridge between waking life, nature, spirit, and the deeper se...

Dreams after coercive control can be confusing, intense, and surprisingly healing. In this episode of The Dream Journal, host Katherine Bell speaks with Gerette Buglion about reclaiming self-trust after cultic relationships, narcissistic abuse, manipulation, and other forms of coercive control. Gerette shares how dream images can become vulnerable places where autonomy is either undermined or rest...

Why do dreams matter, and how can we use them to support waking life? In this episode of The Dream Journal, host Katherine Bell speaks with Canadian author and health journalist Karen Van Kampen about her book The Brain Never Sleeps: Why We Dream and What It Means for Our Health . Together they explore dream science, memory, mental health, dream sharing, nightmare rescripting, dream engineering, l...

Now with the correct audio!! (Once it propagates through all the platforms…) In this episode of The Dream Journal, Katherine Bell talks with Dr. Gayle Delaney about the origins of modern dreamwork, the early days of the International Association for the Study of Dreams, and Delaney’s practical Dream Interview Method. Their conversation also explores how curiosity—not imposed interpretation—c...

What do dreams reveal about fear, hesitation, identity, and transformation? In this episode of The Dream Journal, Katherine Bell talks with Lincoln Stoller about dreamwork, self-doubt, courage, neurofeedback, mindfulness, and how dreams can surface the questions we most need to face. A thoughtful conversation on inner change, psychological growth, and the hidden patterns shaping our lives. #DreamJ...

Lucid dreaming, dream art, dream characters, and consciousness all come together in this fascinating conversation with Dave Green , London-based artist and author of Doodles in the Dark: An Artist’s Guide to Lucid Dreaming . In this episode of The Dream Journal , host Katherine Bell talks with Dave about how he creates drawings inside lucid dreams, recreates them after waking, and even hands dream...

Host Katherine Bell  talks with  G. William Domhoff  about dreams, sleep, and consciousness through the lens of his book  Dreams, Sleep, and Consciousness . Domhoff explains his  neurocognitive theory of dreaming , arguing that dreams are not random nonsense, but a form of internally generated thought that reflects personal concerns, imagination, and the sleeping brain’s unique activity patterns....

In this powerful episode of The Dream Journal , host Katherine Bell speaks with award-winning author Diane Hartman about the profound connection between dreams, depression, writing, and self-discovery . Diane shares the deeply personal story behind her memoir, Getting Lost on My Way: Self-Discovery on Ireland’s Back Roads , and how a solo journey through Ireland helped her confront the “ black dog...

In this episode of The Dream Journal , host Katherine Bell talks with Alira Solara about dream mapping, recurring dreams, dream loops, lucid dreaming, dream weaving, and dream interpretation . Together they explore why certain dreams repeat, how dream symbols and landscapes can reveal deeper patterns, and how tracking dreams can support emotional insight, spiritual growth, and everyday decision-ma...